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An ultra-quiet electric leaf blower
- allears 3y agoYeah, but my neighbor across the street will never get one. He likes making noise.
- avmich 3y agoCity-wide rule which forbids using noisy polluting ones?
- duped 3y agoGood luck enforcing it
- toomuchtodo 3y agoCalifornia's ban starts January 1st, 2024. A handful of US communities (~150 as of this comment) have also instituted bans. This will drive a shift to electric blowers, and the existing combustion population will eventually age out. You don't have to ban existing units, you target the supply chain. There are no antique gas lawn blowers that will be tenderly loved and cared for as they age, they'll be thrown out and replaced with electric. California: https://www.sacbee.com/news/environment/article277979858.html https://www.sacbee.com/news/environment/article277979858.htm... Washington DC: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/05/gas-leaf-blowers-banned-washington-dc https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/05/gas-leaf-blo... Miami Beach/South Miami: https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2023/08/01/leaf-blower-ban-miamibeach-southmiami-gas-powered https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2023/08/01/leaf-blower-ban... Evanston, IL: https://dailynorthwestern.com/2023/04/02/city/evanston-bans-gas-and-propane-powered-leaf-blowers/ https://dailynorthwestern.com/2023/04/02/city/evanston-bans-... Oak Park, IL: https://www.oakpark.com/2023/03/14/oak-park-bans-gas-powered-leaf-blowers/ https://www.oakpark.com/2023/03/14/oak-park-bans-gas-powered...
- cafard 3y agoDC's rule is more or less honored. Maybe one of ten crews will still use a gas-powered leaf blower.
- connicpu 3y agoLet neighbors record and turn in the evidence for a bounty, it'll be solved in a few weeks
- kccqzy 3y agoYup. DC managed to do it. https://dlcp.dc.gov/page/leaf-blower-regulations https://dlcp.dc.gov/page/leaf-blower-regulations
- m463 3y agoMaybe they can tune the leafblower for a harley sound?
- oh_sigh 3y agoWe must share a neighbor. Mine is outside every day leaf blowing. I saw him literally blowing one leaf across his yard to get it to the street.
- bell-cot 3y agoNext up - how about ultra-quiet hair dryers? Younger folks are running those things right next to their ears, day after day...
- 01100011 3y agoI hear(haha) the Dyson is quiet... but we need a quiet hair dryer that doesn't cost hundreds of dollars.
- NotYourLawyer 3y agoIt’s overall quieter, but with a pretty noticeable high pitched whine. Not sure if that’s better or worse for your ears on balance.
- m463 3y agoI was thinking the same thing. Dyson hairdryer is interesting, but really high pitched sound. I also wonder... could this work in reverse for vacuums?
- seanmcdirmid 3y agoIsn't the Dyson hairdryer already related to the Dyson vacuum, I assume they are sharing lots of tech already, although one runs on battery and the other has to be plugged in (would love a Dyson wireless hairdryer, but we aren't there yet).
- bell-cot 3y ago> for vacuums? Oh, yesYesYES - why didn't I think of that? Neither age nor male pattern follicular deficiency can ever free you from that noisy chore.
- paradox460 3y agoMy Miele is quiet enough to vacuum in the baby's room while he sleeps
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- toomuchtodo 3y agoPairs well with retailers' push to electric implements. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/30/home-depot-lowes-bank-on-electric-power-tools-and-landscaping-equipment.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/30/home-depot-lowes-bank-on-ele... https://corporate.homedepot.com/news/sustainability/home-depot-sets-goal-battery-powered-products-drive-over-85-outdoor-lawn https://corporate.homedepot.com/news/sustainability/home-dep...
- sokoloff 3y agoI bought a Li-Ion leaf blower and baby chainsaw this summer. The chain saw is great for "the things that you'd use a baby chainsaw for", is plenty for my small urban lot, and much more convenient than a rarely-used gas engine chain saw. The leaf blower is adequate, but not quite the equal of my older 2-cycle Echo commercial leaf blower. The electric won't move closed pine cones or acorns nearly as well as the gas. It is more convenient though for 95% of the smaller tasks and slightly quieter than the gas. Having just bought it, I'm not in the market for another new one for quite some years, though.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- cafard 3y agoIt had never occurred to me that one could move acorns at all with a leaf blower. Do you have fairly thick grass?
- solarpunk 3y agoI see the whispersystems folks have moved on to aerospace https://twitter.com/moxie/status/1582154037700399104 https://twitter.com/moxie/status/1582154037700399104
- francisofascii 3y agoThis "sounds" great. We will need a "cash for clunkers" program, but with leaf blowers.
- michaelteter 3y agoUnless cities create laws against loud lawn equipment, the cheaper (louder) option will always be chosen first. I'm also not even convinced that, all things being equal except noise, that some people would choose the quieter option. After all, people spend $$$ making their vehicles LOUDER, even when it doesn't always add performance.
- WalterBright 3y agoThere's nothing like the sound of a healthy V8. There is one thing better, though. Stand near a P-51 Mustang when its engine starts. Wow. There's even a book written about it - "Sigh of a Merlin". (The P-51 engine is a Merlin V12.)
- billybones 3y agoPlease keep this attitude on the track, and away from where people live. Ripping your engine in loud cities, no matter how great you think it sounds, is like urinating on the toilet seat or throwing your trash out the window. Might make your life a little easier or better, but it's just flagrantly inconsiderate.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago> the cheaper (louder) option will always be chosen first. Not if the quieter versions are cheaper. Electric leaf blowers are already mostly cheaper than gas powered ones, it is just that for large scale commercial purposes, gas powered ones still have an edge in cost and more importantly in terms of "how long can I work without swapping/refueling." I suspect the line will continue to drift toward electrics given that there is a lot of yearly advances in battery tech and not much development in gas powered engines.
- connicpu 3y agoFor home use if you don't have a large area to cover, it's even cheaper to get an AC leaf blower. Just need an extension cord that can reach to the extent of your yard. Obviously less universally practical for professional landscapers, battery technology is critical for them.
- Hasz 3y agoCool tech, but the GTM strategy will make or break them. Small 2-stroke engines (like those run by lead blowers, weed whackers) contribute a relativly insane amount of noise and air pollution, and their solution is an excellent opportunity to get rid of 2 strokes and make a ton of money/improve QOL for everyone. IMO, best way to GTM is probably to partner with TTI, Makita or SBD and license the technology with a royalty per unit. The tool industry has gone through many consolidations for very good reasons, no need to try directly competing and raising yet-another battery platform. One of the industries these conglomerates have terrible penetration in is landscaping crews, who are largely still gas driven. If you can deliver gas-like performance in a backpack blower, they might be interested. If you can't get them interested for selfish reasons, you can force them to switch by going after the pollution issue at a state and local level. Get cities and neighborhoods to ban 2-stroke engines in their communities and contracts. It will be popular with constituents, and landscapers will pass the slight capex cost increase in contract terms. This will force professionals to switch from Stihl to your partner toolmaker, with large investments in tools and especially batteries. This should drive sales in the rest of your partner's tooling ecosystem from an unsaturated group, something you should highlight during that royalty negotiations with your partner. Now that you've captured the pro market, you can drive consumers and prosumers to the platforms via your partner's preferred channel (HD/Lowes). You can lock them into a new battery platform and sell 3 different models to target each group, again targeting groups with poor existing penetration (although not as rich a group as landscapers). You can add more prongs to this strategy (exlcusive vs non-exclusive licensing, partnering with a lower tier tool mfg like greenworks/echo) but that's a basic first pass.
- jononomo 3y agoYou should LTW without UA. (You should learn to write without using acronyms.)
- tomcam 3y ago> landscapers will pass the slight capex cost increase in contract terms Not slight. I hate the noise but but realistically, you’re talking at least triple costs, and probably more, to go from gas to electric. You need a shit ton of batteries to last each day if you’re a professional landscaper, and that means serious infrastructure to handle all the battery charging.
- dheera 3y agoHighly related: Ismo's comedy about quiet leaf blowers and people on the moon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Eo2uq5k1O0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Eo2uq5k1O0
- zwieback 3y agoHard to say what the actual tech is but it sounds like they use way more blades and rotate much slower than traditional fans.
- lukev 3y agoI will buy one of these for my neighbor at my own expense as soon as they are available. Dude loves his yard, I get it, but he is out there for at least 30 minutes every single day with his gas blower. Usually over dinner time when we are eating outside on nice days. Wonder if getting neighbors to subsidize quieter tech is a viable approach. Nobody cares about their own noise but everyone cares a lot about the neighbor.
- diogenescynic 3y agoEven if you bought it would he use it? There are already electric blowers that aren't very loud. If they're using a gas blower then it might be more about something else--in which case I have a feeling they won't be interested in quiet leaf blowing tech.
- usefulcat 3y agoI think the only effective solution will be for cities to start banning gas powered leaf blowers. I'd definitely vote for that.
- nuancebydefault 3y agoI would even say, start burning gas powered leaf blowers. How often have I have seen people using it on just a handful of leafs. It almost takes less effort to pick them manually.
- beebeepka 3y agoBut picking them manually does not emit insane amounts of air and noise pollution which is most of the "fun". What's the point of doing anything if it doesn't hurt anyone? Kind of like motorcycles.
- dmd 3y agoNot just banning, but enforcing the ban. Our town banned them ... with a $50 fine, which landscapers are happy to pay the once or twice a year they get dinged, if it means they don't have to buy new equipment.
- ojagodzinski 3y agoin my city (in Poland) there is a ban on the use of combustion and electric leaf blowers. The aim of the restrictions is to eliminate secondary dust (PM 2.5, PM10) emissions from streets. https://www.poznan.pl/mim/info/news/zakaz-uzywania-dmuchaw-do-lisci,154118.html https://www.poznan.pl/mim/info/news/zakaz-uzywania-dmuchaw-d...
- alliao 3y agoso back to sweeping I guess?
- zyang 3y agoI recently bought a Kärcher push sweeper and it's life changing. Completely silent and cleanup same sized patio space in fraction of the time. Yet when I recommend it others the response is usually "na I need my blower" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- rootusrootus 3y agoTo be fair, that sweeper isn't an exact replacement for a blower. It works on hard surfaces, but a blower works everywhere.
- dylan604 3y agoNaw, we'll go to using the water hose and a sprayer! It's not as uncommon as you might think/hope.
- m463 3y agoWhen I was a kid, the city would send trucks around in the fall to vacuum up piles of leaves left at the curb. I think it would be cool to vacuum things up.
- mcshicks 3y agoInteresting my city, Encinitas in the US, banned it to reduce green house gas emissions. https://www.encinitasca.gov/government/departments/development-services/sustainability-division/environmental-initiatives/leaf-blower-ordinance#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20City%20Council%20passed,or%20battery%2Dpowered%20leaf%20blowers https://www.encinitasca.gov/government/departments/developme...
- oldnetguy 3y agoTake my money.
- jweir 3y ago"My rake is faster than your leaf blower" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-XqbXi7tNo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-XqbXi7tNo
- vel0city 3y agoMost of the use of my leaf blower isn't really for blowing leaves, at least ones the size where rakes are useful. I mostly use my leaf blower to clear the sidewalk and streets from lawn clippings and other debris from mowing. Those clippings are pretty small, most rakes wouldn't be as effective as a leaf blower at clearing. I also use it to blast out the dust from the garage. Its a lot faster at clearing the dust and cobwebs out of the garage than manually brooming it all. I am mindful of the level of noise though. I use an electric one which is way quieter than gas ones.
- diogenescynic 3y agoThey should license the tech to existing players. I don't think people will be willing to pay a huge premium for this. You don't like a leaf blower for that long and the electric ones already aren't very loud anymore.
- devinjon 3y agoI mean, it's called a rake, right?
- cryptoz 3y agoMy ground-floor Seattle apartment gets flooded with gas smells once a week because of these gas leafblowers. The noise is insufferable and the smell is nauseating. It saddens me as a society we have collectively agreed this is 'worth it' to have the plants by the road get leafblown in the fastest and cheapest possible way, because the health concerns are very real and the alternatives seem possible. But always ignored.
- saulpw 3y ago> City of Seattle to phase out gas leaf blowers by 2027 https://mynorthwest.com/3893695/city-of-seattle-to-phase-out-gas-leaf-blowers/ https://mynorthwest.com/3893695/city-of-seattle-to-phase-out... 5 years is a stupid amount of time to wait for this, but at least it's coming.
- Eumenes 3y agoNah, I'll keep my 250 cc walk behind leaf blower, thanks.
- esaym 3y ago> The result is a leaf blower that emits just 45 decibels of noise at 50 feet and full throttle. "full throttle" here means half the normal CFM I bet.
- ashbee 3y agoThe article says based on measurement of Whisper Drive thrust it moves more air than a handheld leaf blower.
- bluGill 3y agoVolume of air is only part of what matters, the other is pressure. Pressure tends to make noise.
- notacoward 3y agoThey give those numbers too.
- callalex 3y agoHandheld ≠ backpack which is what professionals use.
- Kye 3y agoThe noise is, unfortunately, the point. HOA people in fancy HOA communities want to hear the affirming rumble of engines doing work. Or at least that's the summary of what I've seen/heard from people who've tried to promote quiet electric stuff.
- 4death4 3y agoYes, it’s definitely the noise and not the fact that gas powered leaf blowers provide >50% CFM over electric.
- 4death4 3y agoThis thread is full of people who haven’t used a leaf blower before. An electric leaf blower might be enough to clean off a sidewalk, but you’re not going to do any serious amount of work with an electric blower, especially in the US where most power outlets only supply 120V. That’s why people use gas blowers. It’s not about the noise and not about cost. It’s about having a product that actually meets the functional requirements of the job. I will say, though, that requiring 4 stroke engines would be a huge improvement until there is a viable alternative.
- chrisco255 3y ago120V just affects the charging time of a battery, not the output of an electric motor. Presumably you would not be tethered to an outlet while operating a blower.
- pandaman 3y agoThere are corded blowers, mowers, weed-whackers, and chainsaws. Those are not for indoor use.
- post_break 3y agoSTIHL has electric blowers that run for over 2 hours.
- cannonpalms 3y agoIt is about the power you lose when going electric, rather than runtime.
- lttlrck 3y agoI have both and there is nothing the electric one (Makita 36V) can't shift. You just have to walk a bit closer... The downside for me really is the runtime.
- mynameishere 3y agothat actually meets the functional requirements of the job That would be a rake. The reason people use leaf blowers is the same as the reason they use motorcycles. They are loud and obnoxious and people enjoy being loud and obnoxious, no matter the availability of superior tools. I have seen my neighbors spend upwards of an hour pissing around with their noise blowers on yards that could be raked in 15 minutes flat. There is some asshole in my neighborhood with a jet-pack style double-barreled leaf blower that can be heard from four blocks away. I'm sure if you asked this scumbag he would tell you how very necessary it is for him to be the world's loudest sociopath. I don't buy it.
- cassepipe 3y agoHonest question : Does humanity really need leaf blowers ?
- tomxor 3y agoI don't think so. It seems to be mostly a thing in the US, I presume for aesthetic purposes? In the UK we just leave them. For most roads, pavements and grassy areas (especially public areas), it's usually left alone, the leaves are good for the soil anyway. Admittedly they can be a road hazard when you get lots of layers of leaves, but then so is ice, mud, frogs etc. I think road-sweepers might take care leaves in particularly hazardous cases and in busy city areas, but I've rarely seen them.
- sarchertech 3y agoLeaf blowers are poorly named. Blowing leaves accounts for maybe 5% of their use. They are primarily used by landscapers to blow grass clippings off of sidewalks and driveways. Personally I think they should be banned because they are annoyingly loud almost half a mile away.
- bagels 3y agoNeed, no. I do want a tidy yard and to not track dust, leaves, and twigs in to the house.
- amelius 3y agoPerhaps I should replace the fan in my desktop computer by one of these things ...
- ChrisMarshallNY 3y agoWANT All the damn landscapers around my neighborhood to get these (fat chance).
- tommoor 3y agoI will never understand Americans seeming obsession with moving leaves about. Do I have to become a father first?
- whyenot 3y agoBlowers are really useful for moving leaves, lawn clippings, etc into piles where they can be easily moved into a compost pile or yard waste container. I can understand your confusion if you have never used one, but it is much easier and quicker than sweeping.
- lttlrck 3y agoIMO where they really excel is getting grass clippings and detritus out of flower beds and off gravel, places where a broom or rake don't work at all. And once you're using a blower for that, you may as well use it for the leaves too. FWIW I never had much luck with a blower when I was in the north east outside Boston, we had masses of leaves across 2/3 acre in the Fall. I used a rake.
- bagels 3y agoWhat do you do about the terrible volume of decaying leaves where you live?
- malermeister 3y agoLeave them be? They turn into compost and improve the soil.
- rootusrootus 3y agoThat's nice, but I hope whoever they partner with has a way to dampen the high frequency sound. It may be overall quieter than the other blowers, but that high end frequency is rough on the ears.
- amelius 3y agoThe wind can still move leaves with less noise.
- lillecarl 3y agoThe makita ran at 1500w and leaf at 1000w, are they moving the same amount of air? I could build a leafblower with a noctua fan, it'd be real quiet but quite useless
- gnicholas 3y ago> To be clear, Whisper is not building a leaf blower (just the propulsor), but the company is already in talks with a few potential partners to bring the ultra-quiet blower to the market
- shawkinaw 3y agoYeah. I mean, the headline is just straight up false: > Whisper Aero unveils ultra-quiet electric leaf blower, powered by aerospace tech
- gnicholas 3y agoIt looks like the pipe they're blowing through in the video is a bit wider than the competitors. Does that affect the sound? It would seem that if you force the same amount of air through a smaller pipe, it would be louder.
- blactuary 3y agoStop blowing the damn leaves in the first place. Better to just leave them
- giardini 3y agoI present you with an even quieter alternative: https://static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/32MJ58_AS01 https://static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/32MJ58_AS... It makes your worker stronger and healthier too and both makes them more money (longer hours) and saves them money (lower costs). They will thank you.